The 21st-Century Black Librarian in America by
This collection of 48 essays by Black librarians and library supporters again identifies racism as one of many challenges of the new century. Essays are written by library educators, library graduate students, retired librarians, public library trustees, veteran librarians, and new librarians fresh out of school with great ideas and wholesome energies. They cover such topics as poorly equipped school libraries and the need to preserve the school library, a call to action to all librarians to make the shift to new and innovative models of public education, the advancement in information technology and library operations, special libraries, recruitment and the Indiana State Library program, racism in the history of library and information science, and challenges that have plagued librarianship for decades. This collection of poignant essays covers a multiplicity of concerns for the 21st-century Black librarian and embodies compassion and respect for the provision of information, an act that defines librarianship.
Achieving Diversity by
This innovative guide explores how librarians can ensure that their services, staff, and collections truly reflect our multicultural society. Chapters cover strategic planning; recruiting and retaining minorities; reaching out to new users; marketing to underrepresented populations; building collections for marginalized groups; overcoming the digital divide; assessment; and other important topics. The contributors provide numerous forms and documents including library diversity plans; residency and intern job descriptions; recruitment materials; programming plans and documents; and web resources. With guidance drawn from real experience in public and academic libraries, this unique guide will help to make diversity a reality in libraries.
Algorithms of Oppression by
In Algorithms of Oppression, Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an equal playing field for all forms of ideas, identities, and activities. Data discrimination is a real social problem; Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting certain sites, along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search engines, leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate against people of color, specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising, Noble exposes a culture of racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their related companies grow in importance--operating as a source for email, a major vehicle for primary and secondary school learning, and beyond--understanding and reversing these disquieting trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance.
The Black Librarian in America Revisited by
This sequel to The Black Librarian in America (Scarecrow, 1970) contains an array of contributors representing a new generation of African American librarians, addressing the same perplexing problems that their predecessors examined. This volume is being issued at a time when there is a great concern about cultural diversity in the country. Cultural diversity is laudable, but the pervasive problem in the country is institutional racism. All of the contributors aggree that it is racism that should be eradicated if a truly multicultural society that represents cultural diversity is to develop. A wide range of topics are explored. In addition, a profile of Dorothy Porter Wesley, one of the pioneer African American librarians; librarians and archivists as writers, and a provocative essay by Congresswoman Major R. Owens on "The Specter of Racism in an Age of Cultural Diversity: The New Paradigm for African American Librarians." Among the contributors are Carolyn O. Frost, Herman L. Totten, Carla Hayden, Charles M. Brown, Alexander Boyd, Jesse Carney Smith, James F Williams,II, Lou Helen Saunders, Ina A. Brown, Vivian Davidson Hewitt, Monteria Hightower, Ella Gaines Yates, and Ann Allen Shockley. Especially designed for professional librarians, library school students, and other information professionals, this volume would be a useful addition to African American collections and other scholarly collections dealing with American society. A copious index that is cross referenced makes it very useful as a reference tool.
Daring to Find Our Names by
Outlines theoretical and methodological problems in documenting lesbigay history generally (and specifically, the history of lesbigay professionals, particularly those in the feminized professions like librarianship). This book will appeal especially to historians of traditionally underrepresented populations (women, Native Americans, African Americans, lesbigays). In particular, chapters on methodological problems in lesbigay research, separatism, and biases created by gender bias will pull together for the first time integrated feminist/radical perspectives on library history. The authors call for more responsible treatment of such subjects as the outing of historical figures, and conversely, a more open approach to research on gender outlaws in the workplace.
Data Feminism by
A new way of thinking about data science and data ethics that is informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism. Today, data science is a form of power. It has been used to expose injustice, improve health outcomes, and topple governments. But it has also been used to discriminate, police, and surveil. This potential for good, on the one hand, and harm, on the other, makes it essential to ask: Data science by whom? Data science for whom? Data science with whose interests in mind? The narratives around big data and data science are overwhelmingly white, male, and techno-heroic. In Data Feminism, Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein present a new way of thinking about data science and data ethics--one that is informed by intersectional feminist thought. Illustrating data feminism in action, D'Ignazio and Klein show how challenges to the male/female binary can help challenge other hierarchical (and empirically wrong) classification systems. They explain how, for example, an understanding of emotion can expand our ideas about effective data visualization, and how the concept of invisible labor can expose the significant human efforts required by our automated systems. And they show why the data never, ever "speak for themselves." Data Feminism offers strategies for data scientists seeking to learn how feminism can help them work toward justice, and for feminists who want to focus their efforts on the growing field of data science. But Data Feminism is about much more than gender. It is about power, about who has it and who doesn't, and about how those differentials of power can be challenged and changed.
Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries by
This book is arranged in three parts: Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter, Equipping the Library Staff, and Voices from the Field. This book will help libraries realize a high level of inclusion.
Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction by
Providing both a theoretical framework and practical guidance, this title introduces feminist pedagogy to librarians seeking to enrich their teaching practices in feminist and progressive ways. Drawing heavily upon the women's studies literature where the concept first appears, Accardi defines and describes recurring themes for feminist teachers: envisioning the classroom as a collaborative, democratic, transformative site; consciousness raising about sexism and oppression; ethics of care in the classroom; and the value of personal testimony and lived experience as valid ways of knowing. Framing these concepts in the context of the limits of library instruction--so often a 50 minute one-shot bound by ACRL-approved cognitive learning outcomes--Accardi invites a critical examination of the potential for feminist liberatory teaching methods in the library instruction classroom.
The Feminist Reference Desk by
Feminist library instruction seeks to empower learners to be both critical thinkers and critical actors who are motivated and prepared to bring about social change. The concept of feminist pedagogy has recently energized current conversations on library instruction, so it is fitting and timely to consider how feminism might intersect with another vital student-centered service the academic library provides: the reference desk. Inspired by the ideas, possibilities, and discussions set in motion by Maria T. Accardi's Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction (2013), this edited collection continues these conversations by considering how feminist strategies and philosophies might reshape, invigorate, and critique approaches to reference services. In short, this collection will provide critical and thought-provoking explorations of how academic librarians might rethink central reference concepts and services, from the reference interview, to the reference collection, to the staffing of the reference desk itself, from a feminist perspective.
Handbook of Black Librarianship by
E. J. Josey and Marva DeLoach have compiled a trove of information about black librarianship. This volume includes history, statistics, and documentation of contemporary issues related both to African American participation in librarianship and to the organizations that they built to provide information resources for their people. Of interest to all librarians, bibliophiles, bibliographers, and students of American culture, this handbook fills a niche in American cultural history. Like the first edition, published in 1977, this new edition chronicles the history and achievements of black librarians in their chosen profession. Chapters documenting pioneering individuals and events are juxtaposed with historical descriptions of early professional organizations. Other sections provide important information related to diversity, including the language of diversity and salient statistical facts about African American librarians. New or revised chapters treat issues related to information technology and electronic resources, library services to African Americans, and library education. Of special interest is the section on African American resources, which covers archival and fugitive literature, library holdings, literature, oral history programs, and museums, with several chapters on awards. A complete section is devoted to the important issue of health sciences libraries and blacks. Another new section covers libraries, library education, and publishing in Africa. The final section highlights the role of African Americans in selected areas of the knowledge industry.
Liberating Minds by
Over 30 librarians address gay and lesbian issues facing the profession, and in some cases offer their own stories of understanding their sexuality and its implications on their professional lives. Some of the issues addressed are the need to uphold intellectual freedom, challenging the censorship of gay materials in libraries, AIDS material in the library, the information needs of gay and lesbian patrons, collection development, and confronting homophobia.
The Librarian Stereotype by
The goal of this volume is to launch productive discourse and inspire action to further the positive impact of the information professions. Through deconstructing the perceived truths of our profession and employing a critical eye, we can work towards improved status, increased diversity, and greater acceptance of each other.
Managing Multiculturalism and Diversity in the Library by
This informative guide provides you with studies on the diversification efforts of Australia, Canada, China, and the United Kingdom, showing how each nation defines diversity, yet values diversity with an agenda that accepts and encourages cultural differences. You will find suggestions on how to bring in the talents of traditionally excluded groups into your library and examine affirmative action and its dismantling from different angles. It covers: raising staff awareness of diversity through training seminars a diversity program focused closely on your library's missions and strategic plans integrating diversity into every aspect of the library activities looking to colleges and universities as the leaders of cross-cultural understanding.
Out Behind the Desk by
An anthology of personal accounts by librarians and library workers relating experiences of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer at work. A broad spectrum of orientations and gender identities are represented, highlighting a range of experiences of being and/or coming out at work.
Perspectives on Women's Archives by
Essays written by archivists and historians illustrate the origins of a women-centered history, the urgent need to locate records that highlight the diverse experiences of women, and the effort to document women's experiences. The essays also expose the need for renewed collaboration between archivists and historians, the challenges related to the accessibility of women's collections, and the development of community archives.
Social Justice and Activism in Libraries by
Experienced librarians offer ideas and guidance in seeking new creative paths, working to support change in library organizations and reexamining principles that may be taken for granted. Theoretical foundations are discussed, along with practical ideas such as the creation a book groups for the intellectually disabled and partnership with social workers or advocates for employees with disabilities.
Topographies of Whiteness by
This collection features the work of scholars, practitioners, and others who draw from a variety of theoretical approaches to name, problematize, and ultimately fissure whiteness at work. Contributors provide critical accounts of the histories of whiteness as they have shaped libraries and archives in higher education, but also interrogate current formations, from the policing of people of color in library spaces to imagined LIS futures. This volume also considers possibilities for challenging oppressive legacies and charting a new course towards anti-racist librarianship.
Unfinished Business by
Unfinished Business tackles the issue of diversity from three distinct perspectives: external and environmental forces, student recruitment, and faculty/curriculum issues.
Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Librarianship by
This collection of 15 essays provides original insights into the use of books and libraries by African Americans since the 19th century. Written by librarians, scholars, and activists, seven chapters first appeared as part of the Library History Round Table's (LHRT) program at the 1994 American Library Association annual conference. Particularly good are the two sections by Edward G. Holly and Charles Churchwell describing the integration of the University of Houston's library staff in 1967. Also, Donald G. Davis and Cheryl Knott Malone's study of libraries' role in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer project and Marilyn H. Pettit's section on New York City Sunday school libraries in the 19th century are excellent.
Where are All the Librarians of Color? by
This book offers a comprehensive look at the experiences of people of color after the recruitment is over, the diversity box is checked, and the statistics are reported. What are the retention, job satisfaction, and tenure experiences of librarians of color? The authors look at the history of librarians of color in academia, review of the literature, obstacles, roles, leadership, and the tenure process for those that endure. What are the recruitment and retention methods employed to create a diverse workforce, successes and failures? Finally what are some mentoring strategies that work to make the library environment less exploitative and toxic for librarians of color?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Generic License.
